Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I am a first-year Queen’s Computing student, writing this note to request an adjustment to my transcript given some very challenging personal context as described below.

Over the past academic year, I have really been struggling with my mental health. Through high school, I struggled with anxiety, but in early November 2024 I started developing real signs of depression including multiple days where I couldn't properly function. I would not be able to leave my room to eat, get to class or socialize with friends. Being in a single plus residence room was very isolating and definitely made things worse. My parents would bring me back to Toronto for multiple days at a time as they were worried for my safety and wanted to support me in person. As a result, my academics ultimately suffered.

At the end of first semester I wasn't able to get out of my room to keep up with my coursework let alone attend tests.I managed to complete MATH 112 and CISC 101 achieving a B in both courses. But I missed a significant test for CISC 102 and resulted in a failing grade for the course despite doing well in the course prior.

In January, during the start of second semester, I was struggling even more. I would go weeks in my room, made it to very few classes during the semester and felt very alone and overwhelmed. The content for my courses was achievable, but due to all my missed days I wasn't able to keep up. After months of being in a deep depression I finally reached out in March for help and started forming a plan for my courses and more importantly to get my mental health improved. I started attending weekly therapy sessions, increased my medication, and reached out to my QSAS advisor.

As part of this second term intervention, I successfully dropped Math 121 (I am retaking the course this summer), and dropped both Math 212 and CISC 121. With the help of my QSAS advisor I asked my COGS 100 professor if I was able to weigh my exam differently due to these extenuating circumstances. Unfortunately, my professor took two weeks to respond at which point the course drop date had passed. Ultimately my COGS professor felt that I was better off dropping the course, but as the deadline had passed I wasn't able to do so. I did manage to stay enrolled in my Design Thinking course (ENIN 140) as I was able to keep up with the online work and two group projects.

Looking back, I had an extremely challenging first year at Queen’s as a result of my mental health, but am hopeful that I am now on a path to feeling myself again. While my mental health took a toll on my first year at university, I really don't want it to hurt my future. As a result, I respectfully request to have my CISC 102 mark dropped and have a DR grade for it, and the same for my COGS 100 course, which I am likely to retake next year. I really hope that you are able to understand that this year did not showcase my true academic ability and that my depression and anxiety stood in the way of my performance. This is very difficult for me to discuss, as this past year I have felt more alone, sad, and empty than I have ever felt in my entire life. Although this year was rough, I have definitely grown as a person and hope that the next couple of years at Queens are filled with amazing memories.

Thank you so much for taking the time to consider my request. If you need any other information, please reach out.

- Charlotte (student #: 20461480)

Supporting Documents to follow, waiting on a response from my psychiatrist.